Saturday, April 20, 2013

Avery Weigh-Tronix (UK) - The importance of vehicle stability and optimum handling performance cannot be over-estimated for an emergency response unit such as Tayside Fire and Rescue service. Factor in strict governmental legislation on axle and gross weight over-loading, selecting the right weighing platform was a critical decision for the service’s Fleet management team.

S. Roberts, Fleet Manager for Tayside Fire and Rescue commented: “Vehicle weight limits are set by the manufacturers and have to be taken into consideration when building specialist fire vehicles. After a careful sourcing process, we chose the PT300 Axle Weigh Pads from Central Weighing; a critical piece of equipment for fire service workshops and body builders alike. We use the pads to achieve the best all round weight distribution, from front to rear and side to side, to optimise the vehicle’s handling characteristics and to meet current legislation on axle and gross weight overloading. In turn, this allows the fire service to specify the most suitable tyres and correct tyre pressures.”

According to Mr Roberts, there are two other major advantages that these axle weighing pads afford Tayside Fire and Rescue Service: “Firstly, they allow accurate weight information to be passed on to the Local Authority where emergency vehicle weights have to be factored in for new building and road infrastructure works. Secondly, we are asked on a daily basis by the local council to provide vehicle weight data every time they impose weight restrictions on bridges and roads. If we cannot provide prompt and accurate weight information the response times that our vehicles have to maintain could be greatly affected.”

With a large fleet of fire-vehicles spanning an even larger geographic coverage area, the Tayside team needed a weighing system that could be used in multiple environments and locations. Says Mr. Roberts: “The pads are robust and easy to use. Being fully portable means that we can take them to other locations to carry out weight checks as required, a very versatile and reliable system”